Empurau Feast

Some time back, a friend graciously gave me a 2.7 kg Kelah (Tor tambroides) and it was sitting in my freezer for awhile while waiting some an occasion to be savoured. Well, this fish has many names depending where you are in Asia (generally called Mahseers) and in Sarawak, it is called Empurau. Restaurants like to call it "Wang Pu Liau" meaning unforgettable to justify its pricy tag (at RM1000 a kilo on the dinner plate, who'll ever forget!!!). Whatever and whichever, it sounds terrible to ever say that I actually grew up eating tons of these because in the olden days, this fish is just 'a fish'. My father would go fish hunting with his buddies or my uncle almost every week with a spear gun and came back with gunny sacks of these in all sizes. The one that we had at 2.7 kg would have been a tiny one in those days ( I have seen one the size of a 10 year old child when I was a boy and in the 90s at Kuala Medang, scales of a kelah bigger than a fifty cent coin selling at RM14 a kilo)....we had so much of it that it actually kind of a traumatised me and it took me quite awhile to get over eating freshwater fish.

Well, taste wise, a good river fish (kelah/emparau, krai, tenggalan, patin buah and jelawat) should have a fruity aroma at its belly and skin because they would have grown up eating a diversified diet inclusive of wild figs, fruits and semi-aquatic herbs (especially the aromatic Kesum that gets flooded on banks of rivers during the monsoon). Cage-reared fishes do not have these qualities but many restaurants still pass them off as river fish - so be prudent.

As there weren't any occasion, and that the fish should not be kept too long in a freezer, we decided to take it down to KL for dinner with my sister's family and they have chosen this restaurant called Big Nose at Kuchai Lama. Here's the result...

Salted egg bitter gourd - surprisingly delicious and savoury

 Steamed trio of eggs - fresh egg, salted duck egg and century egg.

 Herbal chicken soup served individually

I like this vegetable - a cross between garlic and leek called Green Dragon vegetable in Chinese. This is a recent hybrid slowly getting popular in Chinese restaurants.

 Deep fried sweet-savoury pork - the kids loved this addictive dish.

 De-boned chicken with fish paste - don't like this dish as it has a funny taste combination: fishy stuff doesn't mix well with chicken.

 Star of the show - the Empurau. It must be steamed with its scales intact to avoid damage to the sensitive skin which is deliciously infused with a fruity arome. Some even deep fry the scales to be eaten as crackers. An excellent fish.

Carcassonne in the Midi Region of France

Out of forgetfulness, I've always thought that I have blogged about this fortified citadel in the Midi Region of France but a check showed that I had not- and so here it goes, ramblings from the back of my mind...

 View of the citadel from the rest area of the auto route...

 At the entrance.

 impressive walls and tourets...

 detail of a carving at the entrance wall

 Within the first layer of wall is an avenue giving rise to a secondary fortification.

a well in the middle of the walled-city

 school museum

 details of the chapel's external walls

 the walls of many hotels and shops are covered with vines like these.

 View from one of the many facades of the fortified city

 Johan hiding coyly behind me...

 View of a gallo-roman church from atop the walls of Carcasonne

This part of the wall has a mediterranean 'feel' to it. It is on the more 'sauvage' part of the citadel.

The walled-in city has a peripheric external wall with walkways for tourists to explore and the views are stunning and impressive over the arid plains. Inside, the walled-in city is a maze of walls with surprising finds everywhere. We lunched at a restaurant inside a walled-in section (forgot to take photo) and had afternoon tea in another open air cafe under a huge chestnut tree within some walls...phew

There are also shows in the evening (joustling I think) all based on the medieval themes. A must visit if ever to come to this part of France...and yeah, these photos are from the summer of 2006.

Lunch at Garibaldi

Just a few weeks back, I had lunch with some colleagues at Garibaldi in Bangsar Village. As you enter the restaurant from the lower ground floor (which we did), you'd arrive into a rather bistro-club like atmosphere for beer drinking and darts and it turned out that this floor was for lighter dining and fast food. The waiter gave us the choice and up we went to the second floor where the ambiance was completely different with a rather crisp and clean feel. Liked the setting. Didn't like the service as much need to be improved if they were to call themselves a fine dining spot. For one, the waiters need to be trained in service - you don't hold the inner rims of the dishes you are serving as no one wants to eat from stained plates (the servers never wore gloves). Secondly, the waiters seemed to be not very aware of the dishes they are serving from the menu - try asking them for explainations...and they charge you RM40++ for drinking water because the waiters failed to inform you that the water thay are serving is bottled mineral water, not plain drinking water. We never made any fuss about that but I still think the fault is with the way the waiters are trained (not that they understood a word in italian to start with), and this is supposed to be the "premier" Italian restaurant in town.

 Liked the calm setting...

While waiting, some amuse bouches were served: salmon mousse with lumpfish roe (call it caviar if you like but Beluga they are not). OK. Not shouting for attention. I find them tasting bit like tasters you get at  gallery openings.

 The foccacia was nice, with dipping provided (Balsamic vinegar and olive oil).

I ordered the set menu with the zucchini flan because I am not crazy about beet roots. I find the flan tasting tad floury or undercooked. Presentation was good but taste-wise was disappointing. Good way to know if you'll ever go back to an expensive restaurant is to test their set menu - if the preset offerings do not meet your expectations, chances are, you'll never find them in the a la carte. Quality needs to be consistant.

The beet root salad that my friend had. Didn't want to tell me friends then because it would be disappointing for their experience but they could have done better with the quality of the lettuce. These are cheap supermarket variety. Dommage.

 Braised lamb: we expected chunks of lamb but got minced meat. I was told it was salty. Couldn't verify as I didn't try that.

The salmon that I ordered. The waiter asked me how I wanted my salmon done and I said medium. I got it well done. Not amusing.

The least amusing part - this seemingly delicious chocolate pudding (or fondant - couldn't remember) was extremely floury and heavy and I didn't like it at all. Has a very strange burnt coconuty - chocolaty taste to it (reminds me of a under done pasar malam kuih bakar).

The verdict: I will say 5.5 out of 10 for the experience. definitely not worth your ringgit eating here.

Formerly Telok Anson

I was in Teluk Intan (formerly Telok Anson) for a few days' training and on the second day, I managed to visit the town for an hour or so...

Like many Straits settlements predominantly Chinese in urbain areas during the 19th Century Malaya, this place is no exception - Chinese Straits architecture, colonial-styled architecture now interspersed with much bad taste for colour and designs, post Bauhaus modernisme 70s boxes of a building and lately a tendency for screaming shades of colours on every street of modern Malaysian towns...well, this town has much charm and potential given the right direction for development. Just hope somebody don't get smart and try to pull down the old ones for some new buildings in the name of progress...

Here's a pictorial...

One of the most visible shops around the tower...

 Entrance into the tower (not in use)

 In the age of mobile everything, moving bread vendors still retain their relevance (funny thing is, these guys already offered mobile services before your iphones). These are made in old fashioned wood fire oven. A must try.

 details of the lattice work on the tower...

 charming "newstand"...

 An abandonned colonial building by the river. A peek into the vast and empty structure made me think that this could have been a warehouse when ships came to dock in the olden days. Could have been transformed into a boutique hotel or museum rather than letting it rot in the sun...

 The river's edge...

 Freshly caught freshwater prawns (called udang galah by the locals) and fire eels on sale by the riverside...

An old colonial building...

 The tower really leans...